Chapter 162:

"An effect that forces the opponent to take the battle damage instead of her...?"

Hearing Rowan explain Amazoness Swords Woman's effect, Alexis, Chazz, and Jaden all winced at once.

Even Professor Crowler, still off to the side stewing over being called ugly, muttering curses under his breath at Tania, broke into a nervous sweat at the news.

That effect really was cursed.

Frame-job monster. Genuinely the perfect description for it.

But almost immediately, the group landed on a different question.

Why exactly did Rowan know so much about the effect of a monster none of them had ever even seen before?

Alexis and the others' expressions gradually shifted into something distinctly odd.

Don't tell me...?

"Well, well. Didn't expect the boy over there to know so much about our Amazoness warriors. Might have to bring you back to the clan with us after all."

Right on cue, Tania, who'd clearly caught what Rowan said, called out, her voice suddenly dropping into an oddly affected, exaggeratedly feminine register.

Paired with a build imposing enough to knock out a tiger with one punch, the whole effect landed somewhere well past absurd.

Rowan physically shuddered.

He nearly blurted out Professor Crowler's own signature catchphrase.

Mamma mia.

He was now seriously entertaining the theory that this was some kind of deliberate psychological attack tactic.

Even Jaden, walking embodiment of blind enthusiasm, and Bastion, currently standing across from her as her opponent, both broke out in a cold, nervous sweat.

"Duel continues. I'll Set one card face-down and end my turn."

A soft thud sounded as a massive, face-down card materialized on Tania's field.

She wrapped up her turn cleanly.

"My turn. Draw!"

Bastion pulled himself back together fast, drawing sharply from the top of his deck with a serious expression.

He glanced at his new card, weighed it against the rest of his hand, and quickly worked out his best play for the situation.

"I'll Set one monster face-down in Defense Position, then Set one more card face-down. Turn end!"

Two soft thuds sounded in quick succession, a sideways monster card and a face-down trap materializing on Bastion's field.

"Wait, what?! He's baiting with a face-down monster and a trap?" Jaden said, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Isn't that basically the same play style Rowan uses all the time?" Syrus added, equally startled.

Everyone else's expressions went a little strange too, several of them glancing over at Rowan, who was nodding along in clear approval, looking every bit the proud mentor watching a promising student.

The same thought crossed all their minds at once.

Except compared to a certain someone's usual opening of "four face-downs and a wall of setups," Bastion's field, with exactly one lonely Trap Card, felt distinctly thin on the cursed energy.

Downright normal, even.

"That's right. This is the seventh deck I've built, refined using what I learned from my last loss to Rowan. A whole new approach to dueling."

Bastion raised a fist, full of confidence.

"Unlike my previous decks, each built to counter a specific Attribute, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Light, Dark, I've named this one 'Yin: Difficult to Fathom as Shadow.'"

Rowan couldn't help an internal groan.

Of course Bastion was one of the rare cultured intellectuals of the dueling world.

Quoting military strategy and everything.

Though judging by that name alone, this deck's actual cursed energy levels were probably pretty modest.

Mostly strategy and tactics, not the sheer overwhelming pressure of Rowan's own decks.

"Then let's see exactly how hard you are to fathom, dear Bastion!"

"My turn. Draw!"

Tania delivered that line in her oddly affected register, then immediately snapped back to her usual gravelly, androgynous voice as she drew from her deck.

She glanced at the new card, added it to her hand, then pulled one out and held it up.

"Since you're not attacking, I suppose I'll go ahead and strike first. Summoning in Attack Position: Amazoness Pet Tiger!"

"Come on out, Bass!"

As Tania slapped the card down onto her Duel Disk, the massive, savage, blue-eyed tiger that had been lurking nearby let out a low growl and was swept up in a soft glow, materializing on the field in front of her.

[Amazoness Pet Tiger] [Level: 4] [Attribute: EARTH] [ATK: 1100] [DEF: 1500]

"So that tiger really is a Duel Spirit too, just like Camula's vampire bat."

Alexis said, sounding like this only confirmed a suspicion she'd already had.

"Only 1100 ATK, though? Isn't that a little low, even for a scouting attacker?"

Chumley asked, squinting at the field, puzzled.

"Amazoness Pet Tiger's special effect. For every monster on its controller's field with 'Amazoness' in its name, it gains 400 ATK."

Tania answered with a smug little chuckle.

"And on my field right now, counting itself, I've got two monsters with 'Amazoness' in the name. So its ATK just went up by 800."

Sure enough, as she spoke, the massive, savage, blue-eyed tiger's ATK ticked upward from 1100, climbing steadily to 1900.

"What?!"

Bastion's eyes widened in alarm.

Rowan, on the other hand, wasn't remotely surprised.

He was fairly sure this Amazoness Pet Tiger had at least one more troublesome effect up its sleeve too.

"Go get 'em, Bass! Attack that face-down monster and see what kind of little trap is hiding under there!"

Tania threw out the command, raising a hand to point.

"ROAR!"

At her word, the Amazoness Pet Tiger let out a fierce snarl and leaped, charging straight at the massive, face-down monster card waiting on Bastion's field.